Recent Tasting Notes

I asked to receive this solely because it said purple. I am sucker for the unique, regardless of flavor or quality. I opened my package and took a peek at my purple nuggets. My first thought is that purple must be a very loosely used term. These small glossed pebbles are a deep crimson in my eyes. I had just under the amount I usually use in my mini gaiwan for gong fu, but I decided to brew it anyways. I washed them once and allowed them to open up. The aroma was of roasted coffee and smoke. This had a very bold and mudded scent to it. The initial flavor was truly unique. It carried the same bold message but softened it with some fungal tones. The leaves did not fully unfurl until well into multiple steeping. The flavor become more fungal and sweet as the session went on. However, it continued to have a coffee grinds aftertaste each brewing. This was an interesting tea. Would I purchase it? No, I dont think its for me. I really dislike when a company shows something different than what they are actually selling, however good the product may be. I appreciate an honest image, and the image they had up would have me buy this tea in a heartbeat. Its a unique tea, and I could see myself trading other teas for this.

This oolong cake is very delightful and quite complex. The initial smell is very mild which made me think that it was about to have a floral taste to it and I wasn’t looking forward to hundreds of cups of floral oolong… however, this oolong can be best described as a long lost cousin of Darjeeling labeled as an oolong tea created in 2010. It is about the fourth steeping that I have found the sweeter notes to come out and before that is a nice light oolong taste that mimics a Darjeeling. The cake is beautiful before you steep it and then it loses all those colors to become a nasty brown :/ , but that doesn’t change the taste of course. Overall my experience has been fantastic with it, if I were to change anything it would be to have stronger taste with the ability to brew it lighter as it is somewhat faint throughout (still tasty of course).

I only got to drink half of my tin of this tea because of friend begged me (in this case begging is the correct word) to give him the rest. This is brews very pleasant cup of tea that acts as liquid calmness for me. I enjoy the quality of oolong and the taste it provides along with the peach notes that come out in the tea. This was my first Art of Tea product and it caused me to try their other teas. (I ended up drinking about 12 cups of this in case you’re wondering how much was taken from me)

Preparation

This golden black tea is slightly more subtle than the others that I have had and for someone like me who doesn’t enjoy black tea because of its strong bitterness that greatly increased my enjoyment with this tea. This is a wonderful tea to mess around with in regards to steeping temperatures because you can easily pull different note strength by 10 degree differences.

Preparation

I bought this because it sounded unique, as many might have. This produces a dark liqueur for an oolong , which can be expected by the color of the tea, and can be used for multiple steeps. The leaves are quite beautiful when they are unraveled. The taste is bolder than what I can handle drinking for a few cups so this tea is generally used for a smaller session of drinking.

This is another tea that I have been drinking for more than a year but somehow didn’t write up a review. That is a shame because it is one of my go-to teas. I love the nose: so clean and fruity. You can really smell the melon. The taste is full and rich. I generally add a bit of NutraSweet, but the tea is so sweet I’m not sure it really needs it. I generally drink black and pu-erh teas, but love this as a light change of pace.

This tea has two siblings that I also love: Butterscotch, and Coconut. They seem to use the same base and similar ingredients, but each has a different main flavor.

Preparation

This was my morning tea, and I really liked it! It has a kind of baked apple flavor, and the cinnamon isn’t too overwhelming. I also am really happy that this seems to not have any nutmeg in it. A lot of apple teas tend to have it, and I just really don’t like that as a tea flavor. Overall, this is a good mellow apple tea!

Preparation

I am assuming that the Golden Monkey I am drinking is from Art of Tea, but it’s really a best guess. I got it bulk at a local tea store we have in the mall, and other teas I got samples of have distinctive names that come up under Art of Tea, so I’m guessing that is a primary bulk source for them. It matches the picture spot on on the page here.

At any rate, this is a nice way to end the school day. This one has a light, crisp taste, slightly of honey. It goes down smoothly. I have managed somehow to tweak (or more like wrench) my lower back/hip this week, and after powering through the last three days days of work, chiropractor, meds, heat, and ice, I just wanted something comforting. This is doing the trick.

I enjoyed this. I found the coconut flavor to be smooth and rich and creamy. I liked that I got that slick coconut ‘feel’ to it. The white tea is delicate and sweet and isn’t overpowered by the coconut.

Preparation

Heavier bodied than I expected, but still airy. I made the mistake of drinking it with a pumpkin breakfast custard, which I thought would be a good pairing- intellectually, it was. I was imagining the whole natural taste-vibe, but the pumpkin overpowered the grass in the Sencha. It wasn’t until the pumpkin had vanished from memory (5 minutes) and the tea had come down to room temp before I truly appreciated this cup.

Flavors: Earth, Grass, Pear, Peas

Preparation

The first steeping was smooth with light caramel. I brewed it with a cooler water temp than most black teas because I was too lazy to wait for the kettle, opting for the instant hot water tap. (Embarrassing, I know.) By the time I got around to the second steeping, the life had bounced back into me and I boiled a proper kettle and brewed it at a much higher temp. The second cup smelled more like soup, the swish brought me the mushrooms and earth I was expecting. For the last cup, I added a pinch of dried rosemary and really went with the whole idea of savory soup!

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Caramel, Earth, Mushrooms, Smooth, Wood

Preparation

I’m going through my cupboard and am embarrassed that I still haven’t reviewed many of my favorite teas. This is one of several white tea blends by Art of Tea that I really like. Partly, I enjoy their base tea, but also the blends are really well done.

This one is colorful, with bits of red, white, orange and blue among the tea leaves. Powerful aroma reminds me of the summer rain tea, but with coconut as well. Rich taste with lots of coconut flavor. Really good. Not at all toasted, like some other coconut teas. The coconut extends well into the finish, which is light.

Fun to watch this tea bulb bloom, but the taste is not really there. It tastes very leafy and green, as some green teas do, with a hint of peach. It was fun to drink, but not something I would ever reach for again

Flavors: Grass, Peach

Preparation

Wow, this one is my new favorite. I am a huge coconut lover, and this tea blows me away! The first time I drank it, I swear I was expecting to be sipping on some sort of coconut cream pudding, but alas it was just tea! I really love this one, I don’t think I’ll be able to never have a little stash in my cupboard.

Preparation

The dry leaf and steeping smell was quite malty, surprisingly. But it didn’t really stick through the taste much. It wasn’t just your average vanilla tea. It was more of a vanilla bean vanilla. So way more stronger, with a touch of malt.
Wish that there had been more malt in this one, but it was still pretty good!
Suppose if I want a malty vanilla tea, I’d have to go to Capital Teas Ltd! But this one was like a lighter version of it. Still pretty good! Just won’t buy more of it.

WHERE IS THECARAMEL!?!??!?!
I must be the only one because every tasting note on here mentions caramel and honey. I got this BECAUSE I expected caramel and honey. But No.
It just tastes like pear and apple.
Don’t mind pears. Used to eat them all the time growing up. Don’t have much flavor, and the texture is kinda weird, but they weren’t bad. And of course, I hated apples. xD
The mix of caramel and pear sounded amazing though.
The dry leaf smelled strongly of pears….stronger than real pears even taste. xD And while steeping, the woodiness came out.
Pear and apple were the only flavors I could taste in this tea. So disappointed by this one :/ Maybe I just got a crappy batch…I don’t know…

Now this is a sample I will be sad to sip down. D:
I love how floral-y it is. Just a beautiful tea.
If it didn’t have the tendency to get super buttery if you accidentally over-steep it I would probably pick up more. Oh well.
I will enjoy the few cups I probably have left of this one! ^^

Oh my goodness, this has to be one of the strongest floral teas I’ve ever had-at least smell wise. The dry leaf smell was super strong. When I steeped it the strong aroma went away a bit.And when I began to drink the tea, the strong floral notes came back.
The buttery flavor actually threw me off in this one. It smelled so strong that I didn’t think it would be buttery at all, because usually I can smell it before.
But the buttery flavor wasn’t overwhelming. It gave it more depth.
I really love this tea! Definitely one I’d buy again, but only in a really good sale because it’s kinda a lot of money. And the smallest oz you can get of this one, other than the sample tin is a 4oz bag. So that’s kinda annoying.
Well, definitely a good tea to remember for next year’s Black Friday sale! :P

So…after a disappointed dr appointment this afternoon, I came home to my AoT order waiting for me. Got a couple ounces of this tea, because I was sure I’d like it.
Doesn’t seem to be so popular here, but the reviews seem to be good for it.
They were all right!
This tea is wonderful! While I can definitely taste the chamomile, the banana flavor is very present in this one. I don’t even like bananas, but I love love love banana flavored things! Even if it’s like a super fake banana flavor I usually like it. xD
So this was definitely a winner! Not sure it will be a staple in my collection just yet. I’m sure I will know once I finish the rest of this bag.
It was a very nice and relaxing tea for this evening. Was much needed today.